Making the road safer one car at a time.

About

We make car-buying, owning, and selling less stressful through unbiased vehicle inspection focused on safety and value.

Our Vision

A world in which car shoppers find the best vehicle for their money without any hassle, every car on the road is safe, and sellers get a fair price for their vehicle.

Tag Line

“Safety & Value, Verified.”

After houses, vehicles are the second most expensive thing you’ll buy. If you’re shelling out thousands of dollars you should be treated like royalty. When you buy a house the law requires full disclosure verified by inspection. When you buy a car, only a vehicle inspection from a third party will verify the current condition and give you the information to simplify your decision.

Veteran Inspectors

While several agencies certify mechanics and a mechanic can inspect a vehicle it’s a bit like hiring a heart surgeon to triage an ER waiting room. You need the right specialist. At the same time, 2.5 million Americans have been deployed to the war on terror (primarily Afghanistan and Iraq), 1.6 million of which have since transitioned to civilian life. The transition process is not often a smooth one. Tire Kickers Founder, Jay Ackerland has proposed way to employ nearly 20,000 veterans at a living wage with as little as 40 hours of training. He’s worked with a former U.S. Air Force mechanic to design a training course with military standards as the model, then trained several veterans, and field tested the idea with great success. Tire Kickers is proud to provide job training and employment to returning Veterans and believe they provide an ideal blend of character and ability for an unbiased car inspector. With this in mind The Kicker is proud to join Tire Kickers in pressuring government at the state and federal level to promote car inspection for safety and returning veteran employment.

Excerpt from an Interview with Tire Kicker founder, Jay Ackerland.

Jay, why would someone need a car inspection? What do you mean by saying Independent and 3rd party?
Independent means that we aren’t secretly owned by another automotive interest, we work for you. Third party means we don’t buy cars, we don’t sell cars, we don’t fix cars. And that sets us apart from nearly everybody else who’s going to inspect your vehicle.

What makes your inspectors special?

All of our inspectors are required to attend our rigorous 40 hour training course, as well as on-the-job training and continuing education seminars. Our training course was designed by a former U.S. Air Force mechanic with military standards as the model. We are proud to train and employ our returning veterans because we know that they will follow the inspection to a tee, every time. We train our inspectors to treat the inspection like their own family would be riding in the vehicle.

Roughly what percentage of cars your company inspects ends up having a problem?

Nearly every vehicle we inspect has some sort of minor cosmetic damage, but this is not our focus. Our focus is on finding unsafe equipment. In our experience, nearly half of the vehicles we inspect have issues with tire safety. Because the tire industry is under-regulated in our country, we find new vehicles with old tires all the time. It’s important to remember that just because a tire has enough tread doesn’t mean the tire is safe.

Entrepreneurs are always passionate about their companies, but you seem almost fanatical about establishing car safety and accurate value. What drives you?

I am fanatical about it! Our biggest focus is on improving the safety for everyone on the road, whether we inspect their vehicle or not. I want to be able to drive down the road and not wonder whether or not the car next to me has 10 year old tires that are much more likely to have a catastrophic failure. From the beginning, Tire Kickers has been about helping people protect their families. We’ve expanded our services to help protect our customer’s investments by providing the “fair value” for the vehicles we inspect, but a car that’s unsafe to drive isn’t really a functioning vehicle. So that’s really the cornerstone of value—being a safe car.